Grandma Susie's House of FUNNERS 'N FLOOZIES (Volume IV)

alleycat said:

Jazz hands! If you have them.

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Yeah!

Later funners. So much to do and so little left of night to do them all.

Night, night!

Cliff, I've no idea how long arts PhDs normally take, but for science ones it usually takes three years to do all the work and then another year to write it all up. They're one hell of an undertaking, but absolutely worth doing if it's what you're really interested in.

Best of luck with it! You'll be able to narrow in on exactly what you'd like to work on while you're doing your degree.

I ain't got no PhD myself, btw, but Dr. Mrs. Rob does. She's the brainy one!

ROAR

Well, like I said, teaching at Uni is my second choice, after writing.

It'll take a bloody long time to get all those credentials, and probably if I start making decent money from writing, I'll only go as far as Honours (for now).

It's a double-edged sword. On the one hand, I feel right at home with study and the University atmosphere in general, so I want to stay there. On the other hand, I need to start making money ASAP so I can move out from under mum's shadow.

I know! I'll be the next J.K. Rowling! It's a fool-proof plan! I can even spell Quidditch!

Meanwhile, a fellow student pointed out to me that saying, "Yeah, being a lecturer is my back-up option," is pretty bloody confident.

Like, "Oh, y'know, it's only about 7 or 8 years of full time study that is only available to the best of the best and then they have to compete for limited space as teachers, but that's my back-up option."

Hence changing it to "second choice".

Good morning, house of education.

The coffee is brewing (or, actually, dripping).

I just finished my coffee.

Now I want cake...

We still have some cake from the family lunch on Sunday. May have to cut myself a slice after dinner. It's got the most delicious cream filling!

I need to find out what kind of cream it is, and just buy that next time. Screw the rest of the cake - I want the cream!

Cream is something I have never believed in.

Creme patisserie on the other hand...

Or cold custard as we like to call it...

Scrumptious!

ROAR

Silent Rob said:

What's with the honours thing as well? In the UK, pretty much all degrees peeps register on are honours degrees. It's possible to graduate without honours, but it's a route that people are shoved onto if they're failing.

Does it work differently in Oz with that too? I thought our higher education systems were fairly similar.

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I think S'pore's system is like Australia's except that after a 3-year Bachelor's programme, a student can only get into the Honours programme by invitation. It adds an extra year and depends purely on grades. Given the competition, there is a 100% take-up rate for the Honours programme. The rest go on to find jobs or work a few years before pursuing a Master's in some other uni.

For my daughters in the UK, their 3-year programme has the honours element built into it - it depends entirely on grades.

I ain't got nothin' cos I never went to university :-(

You've got a book deal!

ROAR

Oh Rob, you iz nice! Very nice! Thanks for the reminder. Due out in early September.

Will we be able to get an electronic copy, Rosie? Or will it be print only?

*inquisitive jazz hands*

Yeah, Honours is invite-only and dependent on grades here too.

What I meant by optional was that you can do your degree and not do Honours, and still get credentials. Whereas with some degrees (Psych I think) you have to elect Honours before you start, which gives a lot of fierce competition. Not sure what would happen if you didn't do the 4th year if you were enrolled in Honours Psych... Not sure if you'd still get a basic degree out of it.

But I don't want to do Psych, so it doesn't matter.

And I'm getting this information about Psychology from some Psych students who are also doing the same Philosophy classes as me.

So if I'm wrong, I blame them.

Silent Rob said:

Will we be able to get an electronic copy, Rosie? Or will it be print only?

*inquisitive jazz hands*

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Originally just e-book but the people who awarded the government grant want print copies as well so both. I think it's because of the subject - it's about mental illness in a country where people still believe it is caused by spirits in the body (yes, they still go to a temple medium instead of a doctor) or a poor diet (too much heaty yang food). The publisher will help me get into the other markets for print which means I'll probably make $0.12 per book.

Looking for a day job.

The TV news is reporting an earthquake in northern Italy with some fatalities.

They're also reporting radioactive tuna reaching the US, but I don't want to think about that.

Cliff Face said:

Not sure what would happen if you didn't do the 4th year if you were enrolled in Honours Psych... Not sure if you'd still get a basic degree out of it.

But I don't want to do Psych, so it doesn't matter.

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I believe you do get a degree but it's just a Bachelor's and probably not worth the paper it's printed on because employers would know the graduate didn't quite cut it. I've heard horror stories of suicides by students who did not get their Honours degrees in UK unis (all non-Asian) and a few in my daughters' unis.

We've told our daughters to come home no matter what grades they get - they can be happy receptionists instead of a neurotic whatever or dead non-Hours degree holder.

Silent Rob said:

I ain't got no PhD myself, btw, but Dr. Mrs. Rob does. She's the brainy one!

ROAR

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Pffft!

Dr. Mrs. Rob is too brainy to have married a dummy.

But the humble is sweet.

*pats muppet on head*

*wipes hand on kee-kat*


Hi Rosie.

*runs*

Yeah, there's a lot of pressure, especially with Psych. One guy I know doing Psych this year told me that he's switching to Philosophy because he's not enjoying Psych and, well, how is he going to compete with the others if he doesn't enjoy it? It's only first semester, and already there's a lot of competitive attitudes.

And then I'm reminded of an episode of Becker...

Reggie is freaking out about what she'll do with her Psych degree when she finishes it, and there's 2 or 3 people who cameo who have Psych degrees but aren't using them...

Like, a security guard, a deli worker, and a hooker.

So it must be tough.

Morning house of the well-educated!

Excited for you, Cliff! Sounds like you know what you want to do and have a plan to get there.

We had a lovely food-and-laugh-filled Memorial Day. Exhausted today.

heyjude said:

We had a lovely food-and-laugh-filled Memorial Day. Exhausted today.

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You should petition to have these holidays start on the weekend instead of the end of it - start on Fridays instead of Mondays

In Jarmany, the holiday falls whenever the date lands. So, if it falls on a Tuesday, that's tough. They don't move things around to make a longer weekend like they do in Englandland. If the holiday falls on a weekend, then it just doesn't happen.

That's what logic does to a country.

ROAR

We have the same logic here, Rob. For every single public holiday, all eleven of them. As most are religious, it depends on the moon.

It's the same with the whole werewolf thing, Rosie.

Tres inconvenient.

ROAR

Purple Rose said:

You should petition to have these holidays start on the weekend instead of the end of it - start on Fridays instead of Mondays

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Very good point!

I can tell you, though, that the men of my family are well-fed and well-rested. It's just the women who are exhausted. I think I see a bad trend here...